


You're the only friend I need

by copenhagenborn



Series: A long way from the playground [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/M, Harry Payne, Harry and Niall are best friends, Kid!Fic, Kid!Harry, Kid!Niall, M/M, Niall Tomlinson, Niall protects Harry, and maybe boyfriends, daddy!Liam, daddy!louis, kid!narry, louis is famous, niall and harry are 8 years old, niall cuts harrys hair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-03-09 02:02:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3232124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copenhagenborn/pseuds/copenhagenborn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam gets a call from Harry's teacher and is fully expecting having to scold his son. But then he finds him with tears running down his cheeks while mumbling something Niall cutting his hair. And suddenly Liam can't think of anything other than what a stupid child Niall is. </p><p>In which Liam and Louis are dads who have sons that are best friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're the only friend I need

“Liam, someone from Harry’s school called. Do you want me to take a message or do you have time to take the call?” Betty, Liam’s assistant, said through the buzzer on his desk.

Liam sighed. This would be the third time this month that Liam would be called down to the school because of something Harry had done. He really did not feel like yelling at Harry right now, but it was not like he could ask Betty to berate his child. “Yes thank you Betty, I’ll take the call.” Liam replied and picked up the phone with a reluctant move of his hand, “Liam Payne speaking.”

Liam was the editor of a big time magazine and he had just recently been promoted from writer to finally being in charge of his own section. But his son Harold, who recently had started in a new school, had suddenly become a bit of a trouble maker.

Harry had always been the sweet boy, the teacher’s favourite and the child to always make the mums coo and fawn when he opened his mouth. But then Liam got his promotion and they suddenly had the means to buy a bigger house closer to the city where Harry could play in the garden and maybe they could finally get that dog Liam had been looking at.

Everything had been great; Harry quickly became friends with the entire class, Liam got a new corner office and suddenly was invited to weekly office events that earlier had been unknown to him and still was to most of the writers. But then one day Harry got home with a big smile on his face and a new name on his lips.

“Hey daddy, Niall taught me a new thing today, do you wanna see?” Harry would coo and crawl into his father’s lap to show off his new moves. “Isn’t he great dad?”

“Hey dad! Do you know what _soith_ means? Niall said it today and got a time-out,”

“Daddy, can I have cookies for lunch tomorrow? Niall’s allowed to eat sweets for lunch on Wednesdays. He says it’s ‘unhealthy day’,”

Liam slowly began to resent this eight year old boy for his influence on his sweet son, who never before had been exposed to cuss words and now was able to use them in sentences. But despite this Niall’s frequent presence in their everyday life, Liam had not met him yet. According to Harry they always had somewhere to be right after school and when Liam finally arrived to pick up Harry, they were already gone.

 

So when Harry’s teacher, Mister Zayn Malik, informed him that Harry was sitting in his office with Niall waiting for their parents to come and talk to them, Liam was not surprised.

“I’ll be there in half an hour, mister Malik.” Liam apologised for what felt like the 100th time before hanging up the phone and grabbing his jacket.  “Betty, I’m done for the day; if you can please put the article on Elliot Jensen on my desk for tomorrow it would be great,” he asked kindly and closed the door to his office behind him.

Liam drove in silent fury to the school and almost crashed into a flashing Bugatti taking up more than one parking space when he parked. “Stupid, bloody car! Who the hell drives a super car when they have a child?” he cussed irritated and slammed the door to his last year’s Audi.

He walked down the halls until he reached the office of mister Malik. But upon arrival he saw his son sitting on a chair next to the door with tears running down his cheeks and small sobs escaping his lips. “Oh buddy, please don’t cry,” he cooed and knelt down in front of him, his arms quickly circling his back and pulling him to his chest. “What happened?”

Liam suddenly felt bad for not hurrying more on his way down here; he had thought the call once again was for Harry being in trouble. But seeing his son crying alone with no one around made his heart ache. Where was this bloody Niall who obviously had made his son cry?

“He… he said some things about mum,” Harry cried dryly, his sobs getting stuck in his throat and making it hard for Liam to even understand what he was saying from the cracks in his voice. “He said she didn’t love me… and then the gum.” His small hands clutched the fabric of his father’s shirt as if he was trying to pull him even closer than what was plausible. He kept mumbling into Liam’s shoulder causing him to lose some of the conversation, “..Niall cut my hair..” but to Liam it was quite clear what had went down between the two boys.

“Shhh love, please stop crying.” Liam fussed quietly and placed a kiss on Harry’s head, “I’ll go talk to your teacher and then we’ll be one our way, okay?” Harry nodded slowly and withdrew his arms to place around himself, “We can get ice cream on the way home yeah?”

 

With determined steps Liam walked into the office and slammed the door behind him before turning to the man sitting in front of the desk.

“What the bloody hell is wrong with your son? How dare he use his mother against him! And then he has the decency to get physical with him and cut his hair? I am  _disgusted_  – learn to control him before you let him near other children!” Liam roared angrily. He did not care that saliva probably was spewing out of his mouth, that he had not met the man before even though he seemed a bit familiar, nor did he care that Harry surely could hear him through the thin walls.

Harry needed someone to fight for him; his mum sure as hell had not but Liam would do it even if it was the last thing he would ever do.

“Ever since  _your_  son came around, he’s been getting into so much trouble; and normally I would think _, ‘what can you do? They’re eight and need something to do_ ,’ but now he’s hurting someone; do you understand that? It not just all fun and games, he’s taking his own cruelty out on someone who was supposed to be his friend! What does that say about your son mister?!”

Someone cleared their throat behind him stopping Liam from continuing his rant to this strange parent who apparently had bred the spawn of Satan.

“Glad you could come, Mister Payne.” Zayn Malik, Harry’s homeroom teacher, spoke up gently from behind his desk. “I see you’ve met Niall’s father, mister Tomlinson,” he continued hesitantly and gestured to the grinning man sitting in the chair.

“You can call me Louis, I think we know each other well enough for us to be on first name basis now,” the brunet with the blue eyes teased, his eyes dancing with what sure would be laughter if they were not caught in this position. “And I hear you’ve got something to say about my son Niall, so why don’t you meet him as well?” this time his eyes were hard as steel when he beckoned the blond boy standing just behind his chair to come forward.

“Niall babe, this is Harry’s dad mister Payne – say hello.” Louis gently stroked the back of Niall’s blond hair while softly nudging him into his lap and putting his arms around the small boy when a small ‘hi’ escaped his mouth.

And yeah, Liam kind of saw the appeal Harry had been babbling about, because how could this small timid boy hurt anyone? And Liam felt bad that he had used so many bad words in the presence of a minor. But then Harry’s tear stained cheeks popped into his mind and he suddenly did not care that Niall quite possibly was the cutest eight year-old in the world, after Harry of course.

 

“I’m sorry mister Tomlinson, but the presence of your child doesn’t change the fact that I have a crying son out in the hallway, who’s currently missing some hair because of  _your_  son.” Liam stated firmly and kept his place standing next to the desk.

The longer he stared at the man; it became clearer that he had seen him before and  _where_.

 

Louis William Tomlinson, the star of  _‘Which Direction?_ ’ a comedy show based on two university boys travelling the world, one with a backpack and the other one sleeping on luxurious hotels every night but who still always end up meeting each other. But lately he had made a contract with DC Comics to star in a new movie – not that Liam was a fan of his.

But right now he was not the man who would soon star as Robin in the new Titans film – he was the parent of a bully.

“Well, even though that is completely true, I’m quite sure you’ve gotten this the wrong way.” Zayn started in a slow drawl. If Louis was a wonder to watch, Liam did not know how he could describe Zayn. His jaw was sharp enough to cut through ice and with features like his; Liam wondered why he chose to educate privileged children at a private school instead of just lying around and having people take pictures of him.

“You see Mister Payne, my son may have cut your son’s hair off but he sure wasn’t the one talking shite about his mother,” Louis added, and yeah, Liam now knew why Niall had such a potty mouth.

“Yeah sure, because what kid goes up to his best friend and says,  _‘hey man, I know you’re crying right now, but I’m going to cut your hair off a bit okay?’_  that’s great  _Louis_ , I totally believe you know,” Liam scoffed and kicked the chair in spite.

“Niall, do you wanna tell Mister Payne what happened on the playground today?” Zayn cooed gently to the blond boy who had been uncharacteristically quiet ever since Liam came into the room.

“We were on the swing set when Max and Jay from Year 6 came. They know you aren’t married, Mister Payne, so they said that Harry’s mummy didn’t love him enough to stay with him.” Niall started his ramblings and shifted a bit in his father’s lap, “So I said he was stupid and that plenty of people loved Haz. But then Max pushed him off the swing so I hit him – sorry daddy – but then Jay threw me into the sandbox and Max spat out his gum in Harry’s hair. They’ve been bullying him since he got here, but Ashton and Luke have been good to keep them away from him.”

Liam looked confused at Louis, who just smiled, “Ashton’s Niall’s cousin. He and Luke are in Year 8 and absolutely adore the both of them.” Liam nodded in thanks. “Continue babe,”

“Then the bell rang and they left. Harry and I went indoors but he didn’t wanna talk to anyone so I walked him to the loo and got some scissors because mummy always says that you should cut the gum out if it gets in your hair. And then I cut it and got mister Malik.” Niall ended proudly with a smile.

“Yeah, he’s not the best with what order he should do things in but we’re practicing,” Louis chuckled and kissed Niall’s hair fondly.

“Well if Niall didn’t do anything, then why is Harry waiting outside and not in here?” Liam frowned. So maybe Niall really was Harry’s best friend and not some bully as Liam had thought.

“He wanted to wait for you because he missed you and wanted to hug you the minute you came,” Niall piped up in a tone that sounded too mature for his age and suddenly Liam felt bad for leaving his poor little child all alone in the hallway.

“Oh, well then.” Liam spoke quietly and went to the door to receive his son, “Oh Harry babe,” he cooed and opened his arms so the small boy could run into them and lifted him up.

 

“Have you met Niall daddy? Isn’t he great? Just like I said he was, isn’t he?” Harry sniffled softly and used the back of his hand to wipe his nose making Liam partly want to coo at him and partly want to scold the boy. “and Louis’ great too yeah? And mister Malik, and Miss Eleanor – but you haven’t met her yet. You can ask Louis if you can come play one day, and then she’ll be there.”

“Her name is mummy Haz, it’s silly to call her Eleanor.” Niall injected with a frown and clung to his dad when Louis stood up from the chair to say good bye to Zayn.

“Good bye mister Malik, thank you for taking you time. I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.” Liam apologised and reached out to squeeze Zayn’s hand, his hand lingering a bit too long when he pulled away to leave the room with Louis.

“It was great to see the four of you, please bring Eleanor next time Louis, it’s been a long time,” Zayn chuckled and kept his eyes locked with Liam’s until he turned around and closed the door.  

“You can put me down now, daddy, I’m a big boy, and I can walk for myself.” Harry said grumbly and pulled at the collar of his shirt until Liam placed him on the ground with a chuckle seeing as Niall already stood on his own two legs.

The younger boy was quick to take the blonde’s hand and intertwined their fingers as they walked a few paces in front of their dads.

Liam stood mesmerised at the sight of his son happily walking down the hall with Niall’s hand in his. Liam could not help but feel a bit proud of the two boys; a lot of the older kids were still in school and even though homosexuality was a common thing, Liam had still heard of boys being bullied if they stayed a bit too close to their best friend. But apparently his little boy did not care.

“Do you mind it?” a sharp voice next to Liam questioned quietly enough that he did not interrupt the conversation going on in front of them but loud enough that Liam knew he was serious. “They’re always like that when I pick up Niall and I’m pretty sure they’re gunna stay that way. Niall asked me when it was appropriate to kiss someone you liked, and he certainly hasn’t been paying attention to the girls in the class.”

Liam almost wanted to coo at the man. Not that Louis was not muscular or fit, but Liam was a regularly gym-goer and next to him, Louis did not look a bit scary. But the way he acted fiercely protective about his son and Liam’s supposed homophobia made Liam appreciate him just a bit more.

“I’m gay Louis, I’m sorry if that was not clear. So no, I don’t mind,” Liam chuckled amused and put an arm jokingly around the other man, “You can call me Liam by the way,”

“Oh well that’s great  _Liam_ ,” Louis replied with a growing grin and copied the motion with his arm. “I’m sure you’ll make a lovely father-in-law to my son,”

“Hey now, Harry’s not getting married until he has a law degree or can call himself a doctor; so don’t get any ideas,” Liam joked when they reached the car park.

 

“Daddy, are we still getting ice cream? Can Niall come?” Harry asked with a smile and reluctantly let go of Niall’s hand to come stand by his father.

“Well I don’t know kid, do you really feel like getting ice cream right now? I mean there are so many vegetables at the grocer and you can pick _any_ thing you want.” Liam smiled jokingly when the boy began to whine.

“D _aaad_! We don’t want vegetables, we want ice cream!” Harry giggled and hid his face in Liam’s denim clad thigh. “But can Niall come?”

“Have you boys asked his dad if he can go? What if Niall has footie practice today?”

“No, that’s on Mondays and Thursdays daddy, his guitar lessons are Tuesdays and singing is on Sundays.” Harry quickly replied with a certainty that impressed Liam. He turned around and beckoned Niall over with a flick of his hand before leaning to his ear and tried to whisper as quietly as plausible, “ _It’s your turn, I asked my dad and now you have to ask yours,”_

“Daddy, can I go with Harry and Mister Payne to get ice cream? Mummy said it was unhealthy day today, so it’s allowed.” Niall reasoned with firm eyes, his brows drawn down to show his seriousness.

“If mummy said you can, they I don’t see why not.” Louis agreed. He discreetly looked to Liam if he was sure, and the quick nod he got back was all the conformation he needed apparently.

“Yes!” The boys cooed in chorus and ran to the car to get into place.

“Let me put my number into your phone, so if they get too unbearable on your own I can come pick him up,” Louis chuckled and accepted the iPhone Liam was handing him. “Harry’s a good kid, you know. Very nice and polite,”

“Thank you..?” Liam frowned. He knew Harry was a delightful kid, but for Louis to suddenly compliment his parenting was a bit weird.

“I just wanted you to know that you’ve done a great job. Often when children are missing a parent you can sorta tell, but when Niall told us that Harry didn’t talk to his mother I was surprised, because he seems so happy. So, I just wanted to say that you’re a great father.” Louis explained kindly and patted him on the shoulder on his way to his car. “Oh, and Zayn’s into men too, if you wondered. And after that exchange today, I’m quite sure he would be open for some one on one tutoring if you’re interested.” He added with a wink before getting into the car and driving away.

And now that he had met him, it was not a surprise that the Bugatti was Louis’.  

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm thinking of making this into a series following Narry as they grow up and fall in love, yeah?


End file.
